I'm Leaving! (Just for a While)

Hey guys!

As you know, I will be studying abroad in England during the spring semester. Because of this, I will not be posting on this blog much, if at all. I plan on absorbing everything I can so I can have great memories of this once in a lifetime trip. I will however be posting on a travel blog about my experiences  so all my memories will be in one place for my friends and family to follow along. 

If you would like to follow along as well the URL is http://www.pulledfrom.blogspot.com/. There are already a few posts on the blog where I talk about my pre-trip thoughts. 

I leave in a week and I'm getting really excited and really nervous.

I hope you guys won't miss me too much and that you will follow along with my adventures in Europe!

Love y'all, Robin Malia

Merry Christmas to All!

Hey guys! Just a quick post today to say Merry Christmas and share some pictures of the Gingerbread village Michaela and I made!

I hope your days all go wonderfully!

Love y'all, Robin Malia

Easy DIY Christmas Gifts

Hey Guys! It's been a while since I posted! I took exams, moved back home and started work again. It's been an adjustment! 

Now I finally have a day off to sit down and write a blog post or two. I'm so glad, I missed it. I have been taking pictures of things I do so I can blog about them eventually. Better late than never, right? Anyhow, I mentioned a few posts back that I had made my good friends at school Christmas presents. Now that they have opened them, I can share them with you all!

First, for Erin, I was inspired by this pin. Erin grew up in Tennessee and she talks about it a lot. I knew something like this would be perfect for her. I had a hard time photographing the presents without getting a glare on the glass, so bear with me. 

I bought a frame that already had a mat-board in it, then a piece of glitter scrapbook paper and another piece of scrapbook paper that complimented the glitter paper well. I then printed out a map of Tennessee and then traced the shape on the glitter paper and cut it out. I cut an itty-bitty heart out of paper and put it over her home town. Then I grabbed a glue stick and put everything in its place. 

For Amanda, this is the pin I worked from. I know Amanda always keeps her ticket stubs from any movies, concerts, etc that she attends. I saw this and felt that it would be a great way to put her memories on display. Any time she is feeling nostalgic, she can shake the frame and see what tickets float to the top. 

For this gift I bought a shadow box and some pretty scrapbook paper for the back. I also bought letter stickers for the "Admit One" but after I stuck them down I realized I could have just done hand lettering. Either way works fine though! I threw in one of my old movie tickets when I wrapped it up so she would know what it was for when she opened it. Since then, she put all of her tickets in and I love the way it looks.

These are two easy gifts that mean a lot and don't take a lot of artistic ability if you are lacking in that department. I know Erin and Amanda both loved them and I am so glad I took the time to make them instead of going to the store and buying something.

I hope your holiday seasons are full of joy!

Love y'all, Robin Malia

Follow Me Across Europe!

Hey guys, as you know I am studying abroad next semester in England. I have created a separate blog where I will be writing about my journey. The url is: http://pulledfrom.blogspot.com. I invite you to follow that blog as well as this one to see what I am up to!

My friend Erin (who is going to Ireland) and I are in the Honors college and their mascot is a dragon. Well, today they had a going away party for us and they gave us all the cutest stuffed dragons.

Erin and I immediately fell in love with them (yes, we are children) and decided to make them an Instagram account. We plan to upload pictures of them in front of all the awesome places we go to. We named them Archie and Rori. Archie is on the "Most popular British baby names" list, and Rori is on the one for Ireland.

If you want to follow the account name is @archieandroriadventures! We are up to 5 followers so far! Well, 3 if if you don't count Erin and I... 

I can't wait to start this adventure! I hope you tag along!

Love y'all, Robin Malia

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

As you all probably know, this past week was Thanksgiving so I got to go home! It was so so so wonderful to see my family after being at school for so long (read: 4 months). I also got to see my puppy, Millie, and my great friends Michaela and Natalie. I got to relax for 5 days and not worry about school. It was pretty close to perfect.

Since we got our fake Christmas tree in 2006, we haven't had a real tree. I like the fake tree for the convince, but sometimes it is way more fun to get a real tree. My brother, Luke, and I finally convinced our mom to let us get one this year! I promised to water it whenever I was home. 

I was super excited to be able to pick out a tree and decorate it. Real trees just smell so nice! And I love how natural they look. 

Here I am picking out a tree at Lowe's in the very cold rain. We definitely didn't get the tallest tree (I think Luke is taller than it to be honest), but it is very full and I'm very happy with my decision. 

We put the tree up on Wednesday, Thursday Luke put the lights on and on Friday, Natalie came over to help us decorate. At first I didn't want to use colored lights, but the rest of my family vetoed me. In the end I am really happy with the way to turned out!

I had to wear my sequined Santa hat (#fashonista) and put on Christmas music while we made the house festive to help get in the spirit! Natalie and I accidentally wore the same shirt, then wore scarfs and hats. She showed up at my house and we looked at each other and we both immediately starting laughing at the coincidence. 

Here I am setting up the Nativity scene. The past few years we didn't put it up because we couldn't decide where would be a good place for it. After de-cluttering the mantel, I decided that would be the perfect spot (read: safe from curious pets). 

While I was at home I also got crafty and made Erin and Amanda's presents. I'll post pictures after they have opened them (I don't want to spoil anything!). 

Now that the tree is up, I am definitely in the Christmas Spirit! I go home for Winter break on the 11th and I can't wait! I love this time of the year, and getting to spend it with my family is so meaningful.

Are you excited for Christmas?!

Love y'all, Robin Malia

Take What You Need

Erin and I like to have a little something on our doors for the people walking by to see. Erin saw this pin, and told me we should do something similar. I agreed right away! Especially with exam week coming up, people always need a little something extra. I must say, I love the way the metallic Sharpies look on the black paper.

We made the tabs three layers thick so that multiple people could take them. We put this up a few days ago and quite a few of the tabs are already gone. 

As a little extra, we wrote relatable Bible verses on the back of each tab. We loved this addition because it adds a bit more comfort to a troubling time, and reading my Bible always calms me down, so hopefully we can help others as well. 

What do you need? I'll post any of the Bible Verses you want in the comments.

Love y'all, Robin Malia

Time With Friends = A Good Time

This past weekend was pretty awesome. It has made starting the new week pretty tough! I just want to relish in doing nothing productive a little longer. Thankfully Thanksgiving break is coming along quickly as well as the end of the semester.

Friday, Erin had a dance performance and I went to see her! It was such a good show. There was a wide variety of styles and I was in awe at all the talent in the room. After the show, Erin went out to dinner and I got crafty. I found this snowflake tutorial and had to try it out! I love they way they look hanging from my ceiling. And a plus is that they don't look too Christmasy, so I could leave them up all year if I wanted to.

When Erin got back from dinner, her and I stayed up late talking. It was great to have some girl-time with her. I need to appreciate every moment we have together before we both go abroad in the spring.

Saturday was very relaxing. I went to the gym and then sat around and read my book (I should have been doing school work, but oh well). Erin had another show, and afterwards, two of our friends came over to watch a movie. We ended up talking for a while before actually starting the movie at 1:30am. After a long decision process, we chose "Sydney White", a movie from the early 2000s starring Amanda Bynes in her prime. It was such a funny movie - lots of laughs. It was set on a college campus and we got a kick at how unrealistic it was. After the movie was over we starting talking again and before we knew it it was 6:00am!! Oops! Even though we stayed up much too late, I wouldn't take back those awesome conversations for anything.

On Sunday, after sleeping in until noon (which was still too early), Erin and I went to go see our school's theater production of Peter Pan. They did such a good job! Since it was a Sunday matinée, there was a lot of little kids there. A lot of them were dressed up as Tinker Bell or Pirates. I think it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. After the performance, we went to go pick up a few things from Wal-Mart and ended up wandering into World Market as well. I had never been in a World Market, and Oh My Groceries, I am in love. Two hours later, I walked out with two scarfs and a headband, but I could have bought so much more!

My weekend was action-packed, but I loved every second of it. I am so glad I got to spend quality time with some great ladies.

What did you do this weekend?

Love y'all, Robin Malia